The Tales Of Esmeralda

Chapter 33: Casting the Spell

By the time they arrived back to the camp it was already night time; everybody else in the camp was asleep by this point. Esmeralda showed Eirinn and Jason into an empty tent that they had used for space.

"I know it's not much," Esmeralda said, "but it's a place for the night."

Eirinn smiled. "Thank you!"

"Of course."

And with that everybody said good night and went to sleep.

~~~~

The next morning Eirinn woke up and stretched on her bed. She turned and saw Jason curled up next to her with his one arm around her neck. She smiled at him and kissed him lightly on the nose. She then got up and walked out of the tent. The sun was rising and she felt a power, almost like magic, coursing through her veins. She couldn't help but smile and close her eyes while she felt the warm sun on her. Though there was no music playing, not outside of her head anyway, she decided to dance.

Eirinn had always loved to dance. Throughout her life it was the only constant thing she had besides her mother – and even then it was more constant than her. She didn't have any official training; her mother, however, did and would teach Eirinn time and time again. But her favorite part of dancing was being able to express herself and move in her whatever way she chose to. If she wanted to go slow she would go slow. If she wanted to go fast she would go fast. If she wanted to put her foot behind her head she would. If she wanted to roll around on the ground she would.

Jason had woken up after Eirinn was dancing for a minute. He stood in the entrance of the tent watching her with a smile. Though he wasn't good at it he quite liked dancing too. But even more so he loved watching Eirinn dance. She was always happiest when she was dancing (well, second to being in bed). She always showed her true self while she was dancing. And every time she danced Jason fell in love with her even more.

Eirinn opened her eyes and noticed Jason. She smiled. "Good morning." She walked over to Jason, went up on her toes, and kissed him.

"Morning," he said with a smile. "You ready to perform your spell today?"

Eirinn shrugged as she lowered her heels. "More or less. I feel like I'll mess up."

"Maybe. But most likely you won't. Your mom used to do this stuff." Jason grabbed Eirinn's hand and kissed it lightly. "You'll do just fine."

Eirinn smiled again. "Thanks, love."

~~~~

Heracles scratched his chest. "So. This all red stuff is necessary?" He then scratched his head.

Eirinn glared at him. It was a face Jason had gotten many a time and didn't quite like getting. "Yes," Eirinn said sternly. "It is. Unless you want Macha, goddess of war and death, to get angry at you."

Heracles blinked. "Fair point. Do proceed, Miss...?"

"Phibbs. Eirinn Phibbs."

"Alright, Miss Eirinn."

"No. Call me Phibbs. Please." Eirinn stood up. "Everybody ready?" She looked up at everybody surrounding her. She was in the middle of a large circle. Directly in front of her was Jason smiling at her. On his right were Petros, Sebastian, Heracles, and Theseus. On his left were Yolanda, Esmeralda, and Atalanta. The rest of the Argonauts were part of this large circle.

"We're ready, love," Jason said in their language of Common Celtic.

Eirinn smiled. "Thank you," she responded in Celtic.

"Wait," Theseus asked. "What're you saying?"

"We're speaking in Celtic," Jason answered in Greek. "It's our native tongue. Eirinn has to do this in Celtic for Macha to understand it."

"I feel like Macha could understand Greek," Eirinn said, also in Greek. "It's a rather easy language to learn."

Jason shrugged. "Don't wanna risk it, right?"

"Right."

"Anyway, if you want me to be a translator for you guys I will," Jason continued. "It won't hurt if we say the ritual twice."

Eirinn nodded. "Sure. Just make sure not to mess me up."

Jason smiled. "You won't mess up."

Eirinn smiled back. She turned around to look at the ground behind her and lifted her arms above her head as she closed her eyes. "Macha. Goddess of Ravens. Goddess of war. Mother of Life and Death. Queen of Phantoms. One of the Raven Women. The Mighty One," Eirinn said in Celtic. Jason repeated each line in Greek. "Here me as I speak my prayer." She lowered her arms and kept her face up towards the sun. "I come to you for guidance, in a time of need. Titania the Feared is a villain of these parts. A villain which I know I may have helped rise to power. I ask for your forgiveness; it was not my intent. I ask that you help the Greeks. They don't want to live in fear anymore. They want a future; they want their children to live; they want their children to have a future. Please, Macha. As your worshiper I pray that you will do the right thing and help us; you are a caller of peace, after all. I hope that you are as good as I have heard you are... Please, Macha. I worship you, honor you, plead you... I call upon your powers. And I wish that you will help the Greeks live another day. Though our heroes are mighty we are greatly outnumbered. Please help us win. Please..." Eirinn opened her eyes and bent down to the ground. "I plant these three acorns." Eirinn put the acorns in the ground as she spoke. "I plant them in the hopes that you will be on my side. That my wish may be granted. That your power may be given to us." She sat on her heels and put her palms facing up on her lap. She looked back up at the sky. "So mote it be."

"So mote it be," everybody in the circle repeated.

Eirinn closed her eyes. A few moments later she felt a kiss on her forehead. She opened her eyes and saw Jason smiling over her. "And now we wait," he said to her in Celtic. "Great job, sweetheart."

"Thank you." Eirinn closed her eyes and smiled with her mouth closed. Then she stood up and spoke to the Greeks. "Now we eat the red food we have! In honor of Macha!"

"In honor of Macha!" Everybody repeated.